Ewen McDonald, who is currently Australia's High Commissioner to New Zealand the Cook Islands and Niue, will take up the role.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the office, which was announced in November, will help Australia to better engage with the Pacific.

"This will build on our already deep relationship with the region and support the delivery of the Australian Government's package of innovative new initiatives in the Pacific, including labour mobility and infrastructure financing," Ms Payne said in a statement.

As a result, PNG has invited Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States to work together to support its enhanced connectivity and the goal of connecting 70 percent of its population to electricity by 2030.

Currently, only about 13 percent of PNG’s population have reliable access to electricity.

In a joint media conference today, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, along with his counterparts from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the US said electricity lifts the living standards of communities in cities, towns and remote villages.

On 12 November, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (Efic), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) signed a Trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to operationalize the Trilateral Partnership for Infrastructure Investment in the Indo-Pacific, announced in Washington, D.C., on 30 July.

The assistant minister for international development and the Pacific, Anne Ruston, said under Australia's pledge to step up its relationship with Pacific nations it recognised that labour mobility was a key issue for them.

This was reflected in the 40 percent annual growth of the seasonal worker scheme, while a new Pacific labour scheme would also bring in 2000 workers over the next year, she said.

In partnership with the National Department of Health, Australia is supporting Catholic Church Health Services (CCHS) and Anglicare to widen the health services offered at standalone sexual and reproductive health clinics across 18 provinces.

This is a true partnership, with Australia funding staff salaries and operations of facilities, PNG Government paying for medicines and the Catholic Church Health Services providing facilities.